Probabilities — English translation
by Lutias'Kokopelli
Summary: [Fiction inspired by the 9th OVA] He had less than one chance over ten to the power one hundred and seventy that this could happen; but it did happen. When Conan met by chance a man claiming to be his alter-ego from an alternate future, he was however far from imagining that this unexpected help could become the worst nightmare he could not even imagine.
1. Initialization

Well. There's been some people who were truly interested in this fiction and asked me to translate it, so... well, I'll try to do it as well and fast as I can. ^^'  
So here is the English version of _Probabilities_, which was originally in French. As English is not my first language, I'm pretty sure that there will be many mistakes; and even if I try not to make any, there will certainly be at least some in the fiction. Feel free to correct them if so, that would be very helpful for me, and that would give you a better fiction to read, with less mistakes. ^^

So, well, what should I say... That's what I would call a "Short Story". It only lasts five chapters, seven if this Initialization and the Conclusion are included, and the original fiction is "only" 30.000 words long (well, for me that's pretty short xD). This should not take me very much time to translate the whole story since it is complete, so don't worry about the plot, which is of course complete, precise and all.

So now, I'll just wish you to have a pleasant time reading. Enjoy ! ^^

* * *

**_Initialization ~ Murphy's Law_**

_"__If there is any chance that things go wrong, it will go wrong;  
if this probability is zero, it will go wrong anyway."_

"Found it."

The high school student raised his head and gave him what he wanted to be a neutral look, but he did not manage to mask this little light of curiosity which reflected for an instant in his eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your _presence probability_, if you see what I mean."

He started to laugh nervously.

"Still not getting over it, huh?"

"_Excuse me_, but it's just that it seems so much improbable that I want to check."

He shrugged, amused, keeping his hands in his pockets. He suddenly sighed as he leaned against the wall right next to the computer.

"Seriously, what do you do that for?"

"I just want to know how _lucky_ I am."

But he had outlined a broad smile and had particularly emphasized the word _'lucky'_, showing that it was pure irony.

For its part, the elder could not help but let resonate in the room a transient and slightly embarrassed hilarity; but he stopped quickly.

"So? What do you get?"

The child looked for a moment at the calculator he was holding just in front of him, looking pensive. Then he explained quietly:

"By multiplying the different factors which have come into play, that's to say for example the probability that Agasa _Hakase_ had this incredible _'insight'_ that gave him the idea of making this machine, the probability that he actually _managed_ to make it, the probability that we just met you _'by chance'_, the probability that nobody — especially Ran — saw you coming and many other things, I get about a chance over ten to the power ninety-five."

"Have you taken into account the probability that the machine worked?"

"Oh. I actually forgot this one."

The high school student raised his eyes wearily.

"Tsk. Not good. That's a very important factor."

He paused for a short break, but did not let the silence time to settle properly.

"Must be about ten to the power minus seventy-three percent chance, if my memory is good."

"You calculated it?"

"Agasa had calculated it. He wanted to convince me that it was too dangerous."

The student turned to him quizzically; but he quickly changed his mind.

"You should have listened to him."

"I already told you. I had nothing to lose."

The child looked down, revealing a mixture of emotions completely indecipherable.

However, he corrected his calculation, his fingers dancing on the keyboard being the only little noise which would break the surrounding silence.

He finally pressed the button to display the result, and took an annoyed pout.

"Tsk. It reads _'Error: Overflow'_."

"Oh. That's too bad."

The high school student gave a small push against the wall to get up, then a few steps resounded on the floor as he approached the little boy. He then bowed to him, casting a curious glance.

"Oh, I see. You tried to calculate the number of possibilities more than the only probability... Oh, seems I forgot that current calculators will now be limited to ten to the power one hundred. Well, another thing I'll have to get used to."

The younger shrugged, as if to say that anyway, it would not be this kind of habit that would be most difficult to get.

"But whatever. If we only care about the orders of magnitude, then we get something like one chance over ten to the power one hundred and seventy, if you really do care about it."

"One chance over ten to the power one hundred and seventy..." he repeated doubtfully.

He ran a trembling hand over his face, as if trying to calm down the nervous laughter that was beginning to resonate more and more strongly in the room.

"At this rate, I'm really gonna believe that I'm cursed."


	2. First Corollary

Well, here it finally is, the first chapter. I hope it's not too long, though...

Notice that I started to translate this fiction because some people asked me to, but I'm sorry to say that I won't be able to do that so much (too many pages to translate... D8). So I'll finish this translation, but I don't think that I'm going to do that for all my fictions, that would take me too much time (time that I should spend to do something else, though...). Starting this translation is like a promise that I'll finish it, so I'm going to finish it whatever happens (I don't know how much time it'll take before it's complete, though, but I want it to be short). So don't worry, you won't need the French version and Google Translate or anything to get the end of this. x)

So well, enjoy reading ! ^^

* * *

**_First Corollary ~ Gumperson's Law_**

_"The probability of anything happening is in inverse ratio to its desirability."_

**Thursday, March 15 XXXX  
09:21 PM  
Tōkyō, Beika district  
Convenience store _**

They walked out of the little shop, both laden with numerous packages full of many various products. It was late, and the streets started to become emptier and emptier; but they had apparently made the most of the fact that any convenience store was always open, at any time, to buy some foods.

The group consisted of a teenage girl accompanied by a little boy, who was at least ten years younger than her. Both of them seemed happy, just walking quietly through one of the countless streets of the Japanese capital, as if a simple task — making some necessary purchases, mainly food for the evening meal and the followings — truly delighted them.

"Aren't you too much hungry, Conan-kun?" the elder suddenly asked while turning her head to face the little child.

He shrugged slightly, but admitted that indeed his stomach was beginning to cry poor. She then apologized for having come back so late, and for having forgotten to prepare dinner; and to buy food to prepare dinner, apparently.

"I'll make curry rice for tonight. I'm sure you'll love it!" she then announced radiantly.

This good news got the desired effect: Conan smiled with an overly childish way, claiming that it was great and that he really did like her cooking. This made the young lady laugh a little, but she quickly stopped to only show a little amused smile.

The discussion kept going while they walked through the main road, talking about anything. Then they branched off, taking a little street even more quiet; this small dark lane was supposed to lead them to the avenue where they would find the Mōri agency, so they were quite close to their destination. It would have usually taken less than five minutes to arrive at the agency from where they were.

But something kept them a little longer on this little path.

A corpse.

There was a corpse in the middle of the road, half hidden by the shadows.

But not just any one.

When she recognized him, the teenager turned so stunned that she dropped all the packages she was holding, bristling like a statue. By his side, the child refused to believe it. That _could not_ be him. That _was not_ possible.

He had to be mistaken. That was because of the darkness. That had to be a mistake because of the darkness. There was no other explanation.

But whatever, he had to see what exactly was going on. Determined to put the story straight, the child left on the ground his own packages which had become too bulky, rushing towards the enigmatic body and having for first reflex to put his hand near his carotid artery.

His pulse was still beating. So he was alive.

He stood up, considering the sleeping person who was actually not a corpse.

He refused to believe it, but here was the truth: this young teenage boy looked exactly like _him_. And yet, he perfectly knew that he could not be _him_. _That was not_ possible.

Her friend finally joined him unsteadily. Extremely pale, she asked Conan if _he_ was alive, fact that he confirmed in a distracted tone.

"What are we going to do?" she asked. "We can't leave him here…"

"Of course we can't. But we won't be able to carry him to the agency, and less if we count all the packages…"

The solution to this problem just appeared at this moment: the mysterious young man, now lying on his back, shook his eyelids before half-opening them slowly. He closed them back, groaned silently as if he was just waking from a very long sleep, and then tried to get up painfully. The elder rushed to help him sit up, immediately nagging him with multiple questions.

"Shinichi, what happened? Please tell me! Were you attacked? You don't seem to be hurt, though… But what were you doing here like this?"

It was unclear whether this was because of the sudden volubility almost exaggerated of the young girl, because of what she had told him or because of the simple fact that he had just woken up and was still dizzy, but the high school student seemed deeply troubled, staring at her as if he had not seen her for many years. For a split of a second, his expression was totally indescribable, appearing as a mixture of perplexity and bewilderment. As if he believed that this was a dream.

"It worked…"

Only Conan seemed to have heard him. After all, he was just next to him, and Ran was too anxious to notice such speaking. He had merely moved his lips while whispering these two words in such a mute voice.

Conan frowned. What _'worked'_? Who was this teenager who had deliberately taken his original appearance and was intending to impersonate him? What did he want?

However, the high school student recovered quickly, explaining that he had only had a problem related to his case, but that she did not have to be alarmed for that. That was finished, she would not have to worry about him anymore. As to show her this, he stood up quickly; maybe too much quickly though, because he felt like a violent dizziness which made him lose his balance and deeply hurt his head. He had the chance to be able to grip the wall just next to him, catching slowly his breathe.

"See" her friend scolded calmly, "you're still in shock, I'm sure something happened to you and you don't want to tell me. If you want to, you can come with us until you feel better, you're exhausted! And you'll also tell me what happened…"

"No… No! Everything's fine, I-I assure you. And I told you that was nothing… Just a little thing about my case, nothing important…"

That was doubtful. More and more doubtful than ever. A flash of lucidity crossed the glare that the child gave him discreetly.

On the other hand, it suited him that he came to the Mōris' at least for one hour or two. He would be able to keep an eye on him. And perhaps he would even be able to extract from him some very interesting information.

Oh yes, that guy would owe him some explanation. As soon as he would find a place and a time where they would be safe from any spying, he would have to explain what was truly going on. And he would have an interest in being convincing.

**Thursday, March 15 XXXX  
09:47 PM  
Tōkyō, Beika district  
Mōri agency _**

"_Otō-san_ is away to play mahjong again. He is surely not coming back before eleven, so you can stay here for the moment."

Ran showed him the couch and told him to sit down. He looked around with great interest, as if he had never been in this place for at least a very long time, and noticed the harmonious appearance of the room, although it was slightly messy.

Certainly, the brightness and the warmth of this little room contrasted sharply with the darkness of the alley where they met by chance. His eyes lingered a few moments on the old television, as absorbed by its black screen, but he quickly returned to reality and told that it was due to him still feeling a little dizzy. He also seemed so confused that he had even not noticed that she had left for a few seconds to bring a bottle of water and three glasses that she put on the coffee table, already beginning to fill all of them; after all, hydration would help him to feel better. After thanking her in a slightly embarrassed tone, the high school student took his glass and began to drink a little sip.

Finally, the girl told him with an innocent and reassured smile that she would have to go prepare dinner and that it would take her about half an hour; he could also take part and stay without any problem.

The door slammed. A bright reflection immediately crossed the child's glasses, which had remained totally mute until then. His two lenses became opaque and luminous as he took a far too serious air for his apparent age.

Without turning towards him, remaining in front of the closed door, he uttered a simple sentence in a particularly stern voice:

"Okay, no more kidding now. Who are you?"

The elder seemed taken aback by such a question, faking the innocent who did not understand what the child meant while asking it.

"Eh, don't you recognize me? I'm Kudō Shin—

"You can't be Kudō Shinichi. I know where Kudō Shinichi is. You're not Kudō Shinichi. That's impossible. So _who are you_?"

He shrugged, amused:

"Okay, so I'm Edogawa Conan then."

And he showed a wide innocent smile which let see his white teeth.

A shiver ran along the child's spine. He stiffened, not knowing how to react.

So that guy even knew his secret. But how come he found out? What was he doing?

"Don't be silly", he tried to retort as impassively as possible. "You perfectly know that it's impossible. _I_ am Edogawa Conan."

"I know. But I've also been Edogawa Conan for a very long time, now. So if you don't want me to be Kudō Shinichi, I'm Edogawa Conan then. It's either one or the other, so we must choose."

Silence.

"You may do any tests you want, that would only ride you to the same conclusion: I'm you, you're me… Well, not really; if Agasa's right, then actually I stopped being you since I arrived here."

Surely that guy had a problem.

"But whatever, that point doesn't matter since there's only one true difference between both of us: I'm ten years older than you."

Conan could no longer help bursting into a nervous and heavy laughter.

"What rubbish. So you're saying that you would be _'me'_ in the _future_? Come on, that's nonsense."

"Twenty-three, forty-two, twelve, thirty-one, nine, eighteen."

Silence.

"What's _that_?"

"The numbers of the lottery which will be told in two minutes and that you'll be able to check if you turn on the television. We're on Thursday, right? I was supposed to arrive on a Thursday."

Silence.

"There's no chance. Do you even know the probability that—"

"One chance over more than six million to have the six numbers in the right order. I know."

The younger frowned. The two Tokyoites looked one straight in the eyes of the other with insistence, unblinkingly.

Then Conan, without stopping glaring at him, frowned even more with frustration and seized awkwardly the remote control.

"Ha. You're doubting anyway" he pointed out with amusement.

"I just want to prove that you're wrong and that this farce is completely ridiculous" he justified. "That's different."

He then turned on the screen, which crackled a little for a few seconds before showing any program. The child pressed some more buttons, then found the right channel. The show had already begun, and he could check that the first three numbers were already revealed.

The twenty-third.

The forty-second.

And the twelfth.

"Ha. Told you."

He first stood mute, suddenly growing pale.

That was a coincidence.

Just a little coincidence, which came just at the worst moment.

That could not be anything but a coincidence. Necessarily. That was nonsense.

"Yeah" he mumbled with as much assurance as possible, as he was actually trying to convince himself. "The probability is one chance over thirty-nine. That can still be a fluke. There're three more numbers to wait for."

"Then just wait for them, if you still don't believe me."

Although he was not really reassured, he shrugged.

He had been lucky. But he could not get all the numbers exactly in the right order. That was impossible. Unless he had planned something with the administrators of the show, or had faked the video, that was impossible.

Yes, that was it. That had to be a recording of an old draw that he had somehow managed to transmit on the television just at this moment.

Although he had no idea how he could have managed to do it, that was the only possibility.

_"The thirty-first!"_ the anchorwoman announced while the correspondent number appeared on the screen.

He cringed.

He could _not_ be right. He _had_ to have used a trick, whatever it was. He _could not_ be Kudō Shinichi. That was impossible.

And yet, every single detail that he could see on the screen was correct. There was nothing strange, no error, no incorrect date, no signs of any edition of an old video.

And he was certain that _he_ knew that it was much too easy to check whether it was a kind of repeat of an old draw or not. It was much too easy to find any old almanac which would display the old results of other draws.

"One chance over six hundreds and ten to have four numbers in the right order" the high school student announced. "So, are you giving up?"

"I don't know how you managed to do that, but you _did_ use a trick."

Started an unconcealed, but almost embarrassed hilarity.

_"The ninth!"_

Conan clenched his fist.

"Oh, come on. Even at my own time, I don't know how I could have tricked the screen from here, so how could I have even done it at yours?"

"This — is — **_not_** — possible."

"I had a chance over twenty-eight thousand two hundreds and twenty-four to get the right number this time. Will you admit that it's the only explanation, or we'll have to check our fingerprints to convince you?"

Conan gave him a dark look proving to him that it could not be conceivable in his opinion.

The high school student just drank another sip of water with a perfectly straight face, but looking almost amused by the child's skepticism.

He seemed to be watching a particularly entertaining show, reveling in the irritation Conan showed in his extreme determination to refuse to believe it.

_"And… the thirty-seventh!"_

The elder chocked. He suddenly put his glass back on the table, coughed for a few seconds, looking stunned, then he threw himself onto the television with an indescribable frenzy, holding it nervously.

"Wait, wait, _how_?! … B-But that's impossible! That doesn't even make sense! That was supposed to be the eighteenth, I'm completely sure of it! W-What does that mean…?"

He seemed almost terrified, on second thought.

This time, it was Conan's turn to look amused at this adolescent, who was trying to impersonate him, in such a total collapse; he filled his own glass with water and sat comfortably on the couch, looking at him cynically.

"Oh, that's too bad. The fact is I truly was close to believe you, you know. But it seems that one chance over six millions was too much… Too bad for you."

"That probably was too random to be set in time…" he suddenly whispered in a pensive tone, as if he had not even heard the child's remark.

Silence. He had freed the television awkwardly. He had risen slowly, unsteadily, staring into the void. He almost seemed in a kind of trance, as if he were suffering from inexplicable dizziness.

The child just dropped a little interrogative grunt while turning his head towards him, but was not really curious at all, just wanting to remind him that he was still here.

"Fine. I'll explain you" he muttered in a faint voice.

He inspired strongly, rubbed his sinus as to regain his composure and then knelt beside the coffee table, facing him.

"I know that you don't want to believe me, but I'm _truly_ from the future. Or well, more exactly, I'm from _one_ future."

Conan yawned openly, which removed a rather marked frown from the high school student.

"If you're doubting because of the lottery, I'll be able to show you as much evidence as you want from the point that I'll be done with my explanation. But that would be a little difficult for the moment to compare our fingerprints, so I'll just ask you to give me a very little of your attention. _Please_."

He sighed in a way which seemed to convey the message _'If that amuses you…'_, but then he crossed his arms and muttered:

"Speaking."

"Good. I don't know the details, but from what I understood after listening to Agasa's explanations, when I went back in the past, I didn't really go in my own past, if you see what I mean."

He took his neutral look which was simulating a kind of ignorance as an answer.

"The single fact to go back in my own timeline would be a paradox itself. So how would I be able to go ten years in the past without making any contradiction?"

"By actually being from this very present and being trying it on me, maybe?"

The high school student buried his head in his hand, rubbing it and muttering something which sounded like an exhausted _'Okay, we'll never make it'_.

"Contrary to popular belief, the temporal dimension is not completely unique. Actually, we can consider the universe as a huge probability tree: whenever a choice is possible between several options with a certain probability, then the universe is divided: in each universe, the choice will be different from the others and therefore, ultimately, each option truly exists at the same time, but in different universes which are completely separated."

"Yeah. That's possible."

Good. He was beginning to give him a little attention, things were not so bad.

"So now, you understand what I meant. Actually, while going back in the past, I didn't go back in the past of my own universe, but in yours, to avoid making a loop which would create many contradictions because, for example, I should have in this case remembered to have met my own future self ten years ago, which is not the case."

"So you don't have any memories from ten years ago of this precise scene that you would have lived 'through' me, and I'm not going to live this another time in ten years 'through' you. Is this what you mean?"

"Exactly. That's why I said that we stopped being the same person from the point that I travelled back in time and arrived here."

Fascinating.

"And what about the lottery?"

"Well, I was supposed to arrive in a universe whose past — or should I say now _future_? — is exactly like mine, with so little differences that I was not supposed to even be able to notice them, but as it was a very random event which didn't depend from my own timeline… Well, what I mean is that while travelling back in time, I created a new universe completely different from the others, with its own timeline."

"_Thanks_ to change radically my timeline, then. It's not as if I had already many problems to deal with" the child launched with a particularly sarcastic tone. He paused for a short break, but did not let enough time to make any objection before he clarified his remark: "No, seriously, I never asked you anything."

"Ha, that's the point. Speaking of problems to deal with, that's actually precisely the reason why I'm here."

Silence.

"Just think for a while. I'm from the future."

"That's still to be checked."

"At least just pretend to believe me, if only for five seconds!" he yelled embarrassedly as he was getting annoyed.

Conan shrugged resignedly.

"Listen. That means that I know every single move of the Organization for the next ten years. Aren't you interested?"

"Since you're supposed to have completely changed the timeline by coming here—"

"I purposely chose a universe quite identical as mine to minimize the modifications. My single arrival here won't change everything in their behavior overnight, will it?"

The child hesitated for a short while, but quickly came to sum up what he had understood:

"Okay. So, assuming that you really are from the future, you're here to give me information to help me dismantle the Organization."

"No. Only to dismantle it."

Silence.

"I didn't get it."

"I know that you're also after them, but trust me: it's only and solely a matter between them and _me_. That's none of your business."

"Yeah. But I'm supposed to be you."

For the very first time, Conan seemed to begin to take this whole story of time travelling seriously.

"I already told you that we were two different people since I travelled back in past. And I've many more reasons to fight the Organization alone rather than to get you involved in this. I've already everything planned, I just have to finalize it and adapt it to the terrain. And I'm sorry to teach you that detail, but you're not in."

"That's very kind of you to worry about me, but it's _my_ universe. And that's the Organization of _my_ universe. If I got it all, anyway."

"I'm twenty-seven, Kudō Shinichi."

A long and heavy silence set up. The child suddenly got like a flash of lucidity, materialized by a slight backward movement and his suddenly frightened look that he gave him. When he spoke, his voice was completely obstructed by an inexplicable distress.

"Wait a minute, now that I'm thinking about it…"

"You got it. The APTX's effects are still here. At my time, there's no more antidote. There could not be any more."

"Hey, what do you mean?!"

He had asked this question with a tone suddenly much more interested and worried than ever before. But this time, the elder maintained a hard expression filled with such an indescribable pain that let understand that he would not deal with this subject at all, and that it was completely useless to ask any clarification.

"Don't, Kudō Shinichi. Those days are gone and this isn't the kind of future that awaits you. Well, that's at least the case only if you trust me and you don't put a spoke in my wheel."

"So you mean that _helping you_ would be _'putting a spoke in your wheel'_?"

That chilling and threatening glare came again.

"I've been through many more things than you did, and I've learned many more things than you about the Organization during these ten years. So I'll just ask you not to get involved in this. I know that you truly want to help, but you would be in this task nothing more than a burden, even if I know that you won't believe me."

"Can't you just explain me? Do you really think that I would not feel also _a little_ concerned by this case, since it started?"

"How long does that make since you took the APTX?"

"It will soon be six months."

The teenager could no longer help laughing in a serious hilarity whose tones became strangely more and more macabre and sarcastic while it heavily echoed throughout the room.

"Six months" he repeated cynically. "That's _one twentieth_ of ten years. _Five percent_ of ten years. That's nothing. Absolutely _nothing_. You can tell whatever you want, you know absolutely _nothing_ about the Organization. So be kind and stay out of all this. I'm repeating myself, but my plan is almost ready. I won't need more than two or three weeks before the Organization gets completely destroyed, and you'll have not even needed to lift a finger."

Silence.

"I'm here to offer you a deal. I rid you of the Organization, and meanwhile I'm just impersonating Kudō Shinichi while you keep acting like the seven-year-old child you are."

"I still don't see what I'll get out of it."

"You don't either see what you _won't_ get out of it."

Silence.

"Anyway, what are you going to do once the story is over? Will you take my place forever and I would be supposed to remain as Conan without flinching?"

"That's not the point for the moment. The only thing that matters is dismantling the Organization. And I'm doing that alone, whether you like it or not."

Silence.

"Not interested. I still prefer to deal with it alone."

Silence.

The teenager suddenly sighed, then stood up slowly and reached the door while saying that in that case, he had nothing more to do here.

He opened the door, and stayed there, still turning his back to him.

"Oh, I almost forgot to mention one very little detail. But that won't interest you since you prefer that I leave and let you work on it for another ten years."

"Definitely not interested, I confirm."

Silence.

"Well, as you wish. I just wanted to tell you that I know who _Ano Kata_ truly is, but since my offer doesn't interest you…"

He had stopped just on the doorstep, but he was definitely going to leave.

He could not see him, but he knew that the child had suddenly stood still, paralyzed with astonishment.

A slight smirk appeared on his lips.

"You can't be serious."

"Of course I am. Eh, what are you thinking? That I've been bumming around for ten years? I remind you that I've had _ten years_ to collect even more information than the FBI and the CIA combined have so far done at your time. I've had _twenty times longer_ than you to find out absolutely _everything_ about the Organization, from its lower members to its highest. And I could record any of their moves afterwards without arousing any suspicion from anybody because it was nothing more than the _past_. But since that time is now far away from both of us, I now can only tell you that what I'm holding in the little notebook I brought is the _future_ itself. But anyway, since my contract doesn't suit you…"

He heard a small and mechanical sound which stopped him in his walk.

He smirked again.

"It's been a very long time since I didn't hear that again… but I'd recognize that noise among a thousand."

Silence. He sighed nostalgically.

"Ah, this old watch brings back so many memories…"

"Don't change the subject. You're going to stay here, sit down quietly on that couch and tell me whatever you know about the Organization. And don't be stingy with the details."

The high school student turned back and looked at the child, who was pointing him with his little gadget ready to fire.

"Is that really needed?" he asked while pointing the statement viewfinder. "By dint of aiming at me like that all along, you're going to get a cramp, you know."

"Stop making fun of me and just tell me what you truly want."

**Thursday, March 15 XXXX  
10:53 PM  
Tōkyō, Beika district  
Mōri agency _**

Finally, a rather unexpected intervention from Ran, who had just finished her cooking and was bringing her curry rice, ruined all the plans Conan had in mind in less than two seconds; and it was also in extremis that he managed to hide his wristwatch. The dinnertime took place in a rather tense atmosphere, the young girl being the only one to try bringing a smile to her friends — or what she believed to be her friends, because the child was still suspecting the teenager to be a fake —, not realizing that strangely they somewhat seemed to be on bad terms — or not paying attention to that fact, it depended on the perspective. The claimed _future Kudō Shinichi_ had been forced to stay at least for the dinner, and had to invent many stories to explain his long absence; well, at least, although this situation was far from delighting him, Conan was reassured to see that the teenager's reactions were not too unpleasant. He secretly wished him to act this way, and that was what he was doing less than a second later.

But a problem still remained. That guy was nevertheless abnormal and suspect. And potentially dangerous.

He wanted to hide him what he would have lived, in that hypothetic alternate future he wanted to avoid from happening. That had to be a particularly serious situation, but he had no idea what it could exactly be; and the only person who would be able to answer his questions categorically refused to reveal him the slightest clue about it.

Surely this guy could be a not insignificant help, but he could also be a not insignificant threat worse than anything; the mere fact that he hid his motives or wanted to act alone was liable to make him worthy of an intense distrust. After all, he could be nothing more than an impostor. That would not be the first time someone impersonated him on purpose.

In any case, he had to keep an eye on him at all costs. He could not be trusted under any circumstances. Or he would truly have to explain himself and have strong evidence to show him.

Once the dinner finished, the teenager thanked cheerfully Ran for her excellent cooking, and he even helped her to clear the table. But something that Conan feared was going to happen: he was going to _'go back home'_. So he could no longer be able to keep an eye on him.

"Ran-neechan, can I go sleep with Shinichi-niichan tonight?"

Surprised by this unexpected question, the girl did not know what to answer him. But _'Shinichi-niichan'_ seemed hardly surprised, as if he had already expected such a reaction; much to the child's relief, he did not refuse this favor and said that he would indeed need some help from someone, _in case he still had some more dizziness_.

Conan had perfectly noticed that he actually agreed only because he _knew_ that he would be even more suspicious if he had refused. Surely he had only agreed because he wanted to prove that he was trustworthy…

_Yeah. We'll see._

The young lady let them go unflinchingly; and yet, while closing the door, she felt like a vacuum in her.

No. That was the entire agency which was empty.

But it would not last too much long. _Otō-san_ would be back in one or two hours, no more. He rarely stayed after midnight.

**Thursday, March 15 XXXX  
11:09 PM  
Tōkyō, Beika district  
Kudō residence _**

"Well, I guess there's no reason we would be interrupted another time, now."

"Yeah. So can we finally move on to _detailed_ explanations, now?"

The teenager turned back to face him, shrugged, and then sat in an armchair in the living room, suggesting that the child should do the same.

"What do you want to know?"

"What happened. How come you wanted to take as many risks?"

"That's useless. It won't do anything to you to know, and I strongly advice you _not_ to try learning it. Anyway, I wonder where you would actually be able to learn anything now that this time is nothing more than a distant nightmare…"

As expected, he stubbornly refused to answer. But he had felt this hardness in the tone of his voice. Surely he had experienced something very serious. Serious enough to make him want to go back in time, as if he could reset everything and start again from zero. By himself.

"The plan, then. What are you planning to do?"

"I know the location of the main headquarters of the Organization, and also the location of _Ano Kata_ for the next month. Here are my two main targets."

"And then. What will you do?"

"That's all you need to know. The rest is me who care, I told you."

Silence.

"Why don't you want to tell me about it? Are you scared that I tell you it doesn't make sense or something?"

"It's a foolproof plan. It doesn't need checking by anyone. Least of all by you, that wouldn't be of any use to be checked by _myself_."

Silence.

"Well. Okay. Then while we're at it, if that wouldn't bother you telling me, what are the next actions of the Organization?"

"Fine. Let's suppose that I'm not here to destroy the Organization, and that everything is going to be exactly as indicated in my notes on the last ten years. In the next month approximately, Jodie is supposed to call you to warn you that a new agent, Bourbon, has just become a new member of the Organization."

"I guess that he's the one who got you into most trouble and that he's the main reason why you went back in time until now. You wanted to fight the Organization _before_ he comes."

"Something like that, yes."

Silence. He sighed tensely, but nonetheless confidently. Because he knew that would not happen.

"Actually, it's more specifically so that I'll be able to settle here again and act as freely as I want that I chose this time."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Hondō-kun just left for the United States, didn't he? It was yesterday if I'm not mistaken in my calculations."

"That's it. He must have landed this morning, I think."

"Good. A fire will then take place in the next two weeks — we'll have to avoid it, by the way — which will make that Okiya Subaru-san, who lived in the targeted house, will settle here. Because it'd have hindered me in my movements and my plans more than anything else, that's why this time was perfect: by first preventing the fire, Okiya Subaru-san won't need to come here, and we'll have no problem to go on with the plan. Unless we're already finished _before_ it even takes place, of course."

Conan nodded; it was apparently a part of the plan which he would obviously be _allowed _to contribute to. However, one question came to his mind:

"I don't understand why Okiya Subaru-san's presence would be inconvenient. After all—"

"I know as much as you do who he is. But he's not necessary in my plan. In my plan, I'm _alone_. That's it."

Silence. The elder then stood up, contemplating the multiple books around them.

"So you're finally trusting me?"

"Remember, we popped over to Hakase's house to explain him the situation."

"You got the opportunity to do some tests, didn't you?"

"I gave him our fingerprints, he'll look to compare them. I checked, you don't wear anything that seems to alter or hide your prints: he really got yours."

"Perfect."

He looked satisfied. So probably he was truly very confident, and knew in advance this test's outcome. In addition, Conan also had no longer any doubt about his identity.

"Good. The only enemies left are the probabilities" the teenager threw suddenly.

"You mean, things like the lottery?"

"That's it. If any event is even a little bit random, then I'll really have to be careful. That's all that remains unpredictable for me, but that's what could totally thwart my plans, since it's not because I've lived things one way that everything necessarily will follow the same path…"

He sighed deeply.

"Actually, it's probable that the more we wait before acting, the more these random events will cumulate and slowly come to increase the chances that the timeline radically changes from what it should be, and thus thwart my plans. That's why I want to act as quick as possible: the longer we wait, the greater the probability of failure will increase."

He stifled a small smirk while, sitting back in his armchair, he devoured with his eyes the immense library that surrounded them.

"I feel that I won't hate more than today random events. It'll forever be the only thing to remain unpredictable until my work's finished…"

Completely absorbed by the various books around them, he was however violently pulled from his thoughts when he felt a large pain in his cheek. His little alter-ego apparently had had fun pinching it without restraint.

"Eeeeeeh, that hurts! What was _that_ for?!"

"I don't know. That was a random event."

And he showed a wide innocent smile which let see his white teeth.

* * *

So I'll just review one thing about this story. I'm pretty sure you noticed it while reading, but this story is an AU from its very beginning, even before Shinichi's coming. You'll see why later, but all you need to know is that only _one _thing changed from the original universe and led me to that story (and, by extension, to that "hypothetic alternate future" Shinichi went through). By "thing", it can be anything; maybe you'll figure it out later by yourself, if not I'll explain it at the end of the story since it's not told at all (well, how can we talk about something that is not supposed to exist and that we don't even know it exists in another universe ?).

Feel free to try looking for it, it's not such a so little detail and it should not be so hard to find. After all, I don't think that that story's scenario really is so much complicated. ^^' (Well, it actually is very simple in fact. Compared to my biggest stories, at least, it really is a very predictable scenario... o_o)


	3. Second Corollary

I know, I know, it's been a very long time since I didn't update. I promise that I'll do as quickly as possible, but well... that's not my only project, and many others make me spend so much time... But don't worry, I told you that I would finish, and I won't give it up. ;)

* * *

_**Second Corollary ~ Quach's Lower Law**_

_"Life is like a swing: there are ups and downs,_  
_but there will always be an asshole to fuck your ass on the floor."_

**Blanchard's Corollary:**

_"And above all, the swing goes back to smash your head."_

**Friday, March 16 XXXX  
06:41 AM  
Tōkyō, Beika district  
Kudō residence _**

A little early sunray gradually came up from the bottom of his bed, then rose discreetly and softly until it started to light his face slightly, shyly tickling his eyelids. Conan snorted, still asleep, while moving lazily in his blankets; then he slowly opened his eyes. Then he suddenly stared wide-eyed at the place he had been sleeping in, sitting up in a fast and stunned gasp.

He was not at the Mōris. He could perfectly recognize this place, though... he was in his own bedroom. Well, more exactly, in _Kudō Shinichi_'s bedroom.

But why had he been sleeping here? Was it a dream?

He immediately checked by looking at his hand, then at the outline of his body hidden by the blankets.

Heh no, he was still Conan. That would have been too good to be true. He smirked sadly at the stupid thoughts he just had. How could he have turned back to his old self during the night? That would have fallen into magic.

Some more minutes later, he was finally awake enough to be able to remember everything, much to his annoyance though.

His future's arrival.  
His plan to fight the Organization.  
His suspicious behaviour, and him wanting to keep an eye on him as much as possible.

He looked around in his bedroom, but did not see his future self; he then remembered that he had slept in their parents' bedroom, letting him sleep in his own.

Trying to be as much unobtrusive as possible, he woke up silently and tiptoed to his parents' room, half-opening the door in a complete silence. He noticed that he was still asleep, and discreetly sighed in relief.

That would let him at least a few minutes more before he would get up. It was more than enough.

Once back in his room, he quickly took his cell phone and dialled a specific number as quickly and discreetly as possible. Much to his annoyance, the person he wanted to talk to picked up the phone more than twenty seconds later. He perfectly knew why it had taken him so much time, but the adressee reminded him that same reason:

_"Oi, Kudō... Y'know what time it is? Ya' just woked me up, _aho_."  
_"I know, I know, I'm sorry." he whispered annoyingly. "But the fact is I absolutely needed to call you before _he_ wakes up too."

The Ōsakian blinked puzzlingly while looking weirdly at his phone.

_"Hey, what d'ya' mean? Who're ya' talkin' 'bout? And why the heck're you mumblin' like this, I hardly hear you!"  
_"Shh, please _do_ lower your voice a little, _he _might hear you. I'm here to tell you what's going on, so just listen to me."

Conan hesitated a little, looked around twice while pricking up his ears at anything that would make any noise. Then he muttered even more lower than before:

"You certainly wouldn't believe me if I told you the very truth, but... well, let's say that someone who knows a lot about all of us _and_ the Organization just arrived yesterday night while pretending he was me. I'm currently in my house, and he's just sleeping in the room next to mine."  
_"Wait, what?!"_  
"I think he's by our side, but his methods truly augur no good to me. So I just wanted to warn you, in case you come by here soon."

A slightly incomprehensible mumble sizzled through the handset, indicating that the high school student was agreeing.

_"I see. So if I come by and see that someone is impersonating you, I'll have to do as if it were normal?"  
_"Do whatever you want, but stay on your guard. That guy might be dangerous, and even worse than this... Well, if you want the truth, he is so close to me that he would be able to predict every single move I would do and anticipate it without any problem. That's why—"  
"That's right. I know you well enough to see that you are... rather predictable, Kudō."

The child jumped violently, then cursed in his mind. He immediately turned toward the door and saw his alter-ego leaning against it, his arms crossed and his annoyed eyes seeming gather contempt, lassitude and, paradoxically, comprehension.

"Hang up. Ask him to come by and hang up. Let's just have a talk all three, then. Don't just talk behind my back while ignoring me, that's quite rude you know?"

Silence. Conan frowned, but ended up turning back to his phone.

"Hattori."  
_"Yeah, I heard him. I'll catch the first flight tomorrow, we'll be on Saturday."  
_"Great."

He pressed the red button, then put his phone away and turned to his "future".

"You've been pretending to be sleeping on purpose to trap me, didn't you? You're already dressed."  
"You know far too well why I know you so much and why you're so predictable to me. And I also understand why, even if you perfectly know who I am, you'll remain suspicious nonetheless."

Silence. The child kept his dark glance.  
The high school student eventually sighed deeply.

"Oh, never mind. Just get dressed quickly, I'll be in charge of preparing breakfast. I remind you that we'll have to go to class in hardly more than one hour and thirty minutes, and I intend to drop in on Agasa's to explain him the situation with a little more details, since we left him quite shocked yesterday night. That means we're running out of time, so I'd advice you to hurry a little. We'll have a busy day today."

He then opened the door and left without pronouncing any other word. His little alter-ego heard footsteps walking down, which were characteristic of someone descending the stairs.

Once he was totally sure that _he_ would not be able to hear him, the child let go his rage and grumbled in a low but deep voice while pushing violently his fist against his mattress.

But the bed sheets completely deadened the impact.

**Friday, March 16 XXXX  
06:58 AM  
Tōkyō, Beika district  
Hiroshi Agasa's residence _**

"I see... Well, you were quite in a hurry yesterday night and your explanations were not very clear, so you imagine that I was quite confused when I saw that your fingerprints were exactly the same."  
"I'm sorry _Hakase_," Conan apologized while passing his hand behind his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, the fact is I was rather anxious and I wanted myself to know everything he could tell me as quickly as possible, so we left rather early..."

Haibara just drank another sip of her tea while sitting on the couch some feet far from them, looking at them with a distant and yet rather careful eye.

So from now on there would be _two real Kud__ō_ Shinichi... That was quite fascinating.

When she thought of it, this newcomer seemed rather confident about his plans and himself. Although his being so reluctant to talk with more details about what he had lived and what he intended to do was strange, she did not doubt his sincerity; every evidence they had gathered was sufficient to prove that no fraud was possible. So he was trustworthy to her. That _Kud__ō_-san – because she could not really call him _"Kudō-kun"_ if he actually _really_ was ten years older than her – was probably telling the truth, even if he remained reluctant to talk. But still she would keep her faith in him.

After all, she was herself keeping many secrets about the Organization. He could also have his, as long as his plan worked and he actually managed to solve the problem. His being talkative or not was not the thing she would care about, since that would not be the detail that would change the resulting of his plan.

"You don't seem so surprised to see both of us at the same time, do you?"

The young girl hardly jumped before slightly turning back to the origin of that voice. Well, well, well, what a coincidence. When we speak of the devil...

"Ha, after all, has anything ever been surprising you?" the high school student retorted with an amused tone. "Well, actually, the fact is you know how to hide your surprise. I admire your composure. I couldn't keep my cool as you can do at your age." he added ironically while glancing at his little alter-ego.  
"It's a necessity if you want to survive in the Organization."  
"Yeah, I've figured that."

She kept what was like an embarrassed silence. When she opened her mouth some moments later, she had decided to completely change the subject:

"_Hakase_ and your friend seem to be talking about you with such a great interest." she stated in a mocking tone which looked almost sneaky.  
"I noticed that. Unlike the others, I'm sure that brat will not get over it for a long time. And I believe that he'll be the most suspicious about me... However, I was expecting from you a little more distrust because of... something."

Silence.

"You mean _that_?"  
"I knew it. You've noticed. And yet you're not suspicious at all?"

She smirked, amused.

"As far as I know, you're Kudō Shinichi, as well as that other one we can see there. I got irrefutable evidence that you're not lying, so why should I distrust you? Even if, that's true, I was particularly surprised to notice _that_, I will not have any suspicion against you, don't worry about it."  
"Yeah. I would have been more in trouble if _that brat_ were the one who could notice it. If that's you, everything's fine."

The child retained a slight mocking laugh.

"I do like the way you call him. _"That brat"_. He's you ten years ago, should I remind you?"  
"Well, not exactly since we stopped being the same person since I'm here, but... well, if we take things another way... yeah, we can say that. That's possible."

He leaned his head against his fist, his elbow resting on the table. He looked at his alter-ego with an unreadable expression.

"I hardly believe how people change so much in only _ten years_..." he continued in a lost tone, as if he were truly surprised by such a constatation.  
"You're right. Compared to you, he's really much like an immature _brat_ that isn't aware of the dangers of being a detective and doesn't realize the thickness of the thread in which he is entangled."  
"Ohe, ohe, don't exaggerate either... The fact is he still lacks enough information to really become aware of all this."

She gave him a mocking look.

"I didn't know that kind of remarks would still affect you even if they're addressed to your _past_. You're quite versatile when I think about it."

He was about to reply, but he could not find the words; slightly miffed without wanting to show it explicitly, he just fold his arms and quietly looked away.

"But seriously, I feel that you really got every single detail that you weren't aware of ten years ago; that's thanks to _that_, isn't it? In any case, this is why I trust you. I know you're really going to get rid of that organization once and for all."  
"So you won't tell them, will you? I wouldn't like to get into trouble because of _that_."  
"You can count on me."

The other conversation that was taking place just a few yards away from them, setting between the old professor and the little schoolboy, was carrying a much more dramatic tone. Once again, Conan had expressed his distrust and concern, but without having real foundations to his remarks. Agasa was trying to cool his ardour, seeing in the time traveler no other person than the Shinichi he had always known and not understanding the origin of such suspicions; however, he was not completely taken in by this, admitting that his keeping such secrets was strange. But he only saw this as the evidence of a trauma he wanted to avoid talking about, which was understandable and allowed to hush up any suspicion against him.  
The child, while turning to his alter-ego, thought of this possibility as something which was actually possible.

Yes. Maybe he should avoid seeing danger anywhere, after all. If he could not even trust _himself_, how would he be able to be even more paranoid?  
But still, he could not find any explanation to his wanting to act _alone_. Even the FBI and the CIA were not supposed to be in... and the day before, he had clearly said that Okiya Subaru would be nothing more than a burden if he settled with them, even though he perfectly knew who he actually was. And likewise, he had never tried to contact anyone to talk about his plans, repeating again and again that he would act _alone_.  
Was he so attached to his acting discreetly and simply? How could he intend to dismantle the whole organization all alone?!

No. He would have been happy to trust him, but those trouble spots were torturing his mind and proved him that something was not clear. Something was wrong with him, and he was looking forward to finding out why.

Some more minutes later, Haibara stated that it was time for them to leave if they wanted to avoid being late; after them being completely ready, all three greeted the professor, then left immediately.  
While the teenager was walking in front of the group without saying any word, looking completely lost in his mind, the two pupils were following him a few steps away, beginning to talk to each other.

"You know what, I feel that your 'future' looks a little bit like me, according to some points..." she confessed in a small mysterious smile. "I do like his new way of reasoning. You should take a leaf out of his book, Kudō-kun."

The child, hands in his pockets, merely eyed at the student who was walking in front of them, frowning seriously and suspiciously.

"That's it. He's a little too much like you, that's exactly the point."

**Saturday, March 17 XXXX  
10:42 AM  
Tōkyō, Beika district  
Mōri agency _**

It was with a mixture of surprise and cheerfulness that Ran discovered the high school student with a tanned complexion who was standing on the doorstep. She naturally invited him to come in, dashing to the kitchen to get some drinks.

"There's no one here?" he asked surprisingly when she returned with a bottle of orange juice and some glasses.  
"I'm alone, yes. _Otō-san _is gone _I-don't-know-where_ again..."  
"And what 'bout Ku— Conan-kun?"

She started back slightly and evasively, but she soon got over it, as if she wanted to act as if this gesture that was not supposed to happen had actually never been done.

"It's been almost two days he's staying with Shinichi... I didn't hear much from him, though. He didn't come by here since Shinichi returned."

After marking a moment of surprise, the detective took a neutral expression and nodded simply before mumbling absent-mindedly.  
If the situation was to the point that he wanted to keep him under surveillance day and night and that he was even forgetting to go and see Ran, it surely had to be a very serious case.

"But don't ya' see Kudō in high school? Doesn't he give ya' news of him?"  
"He's very vague, he only tells me that he's okay... He's not very talkative since I met him that night. He tells me that's because he's very focused on his case."

She seemed to be suspicious of something that did not look right to her.  
Hattori had the feeling that if he dragged this conversation, then that would lead her to become even more suspicious; he finally considered that it was preferable not to delay much longer. Too much talk about Kudō could make her ask herself even more questions about him... so he preferred to go straight to the point, announcing that he did not want to outstay her welcome whereas he only was here to see the little child.  
But wait a minute... If he clearly told her that he wanted to avoid prolonging that discussion, then she was able to find this attitude suspicious. It would be as rude as awkward to leave her immediately... He rather needed to change the subject.

"By the way, how's ya'r father?"

Ran seemed surprised by this question, jumping a little while looking at him surprisingly. But she soon changed her mind, taking a look which was... strangely anxious.

"Well... He's been given a case last night, but he had very much difficulties to solve it. _Megure-keibu-san_ was very disappointed... and I didn't manage to avoid his drinking during all night."

He displayed an expression that seemed to mix lassitude, understanding and, paradoxically, sadness. As if he was not even surprised by this result and actually knew the real reason of this failure, without wanting to give it.  
He remained for a moment, hesitating, not knowing how to restart the conversation. Fortunately, she quickly offered him a way out that he had not dared hoping:

"You were looking for Conan-kun some minutes ago... That's why you came here, isn't it?"  
"Ah, yeah..."  
"If you want to see him, I won't ask you to stay, don't worry about it. You know where Shinichi lives, don't you?"

He nodded briskly before getting up and thanking her for her hospitality, although he seemed troubled.  
She noticed that he seemed to be hiding something from her. But she just sent him a little inscrutable smile while leading him towards the front door.

"By the way, Hattori-kun..."

He stopped as he was leaving for good, turning to her with a questioning look.

"Whatever you do, don't tell anyone, but... I have the feeling that Shinichi is a little weird these days. I don't know why."

He stood for a moment evasively, not knowing how to react. But he eventually adjusted his cap with an assured and half natural air, nodding quickly.

"Okay. Noticed. I'll see that by myself."

**Saturday, March 17 XXXX  
11:08 AM  
Tōkyō, Beika district  
Kudō residence _**

Hattori put his glass on the table, staring at the one who was facing him with two prying eyes.

"Okay. To begin with, would it be too intrusive to ask ya' who ya' truly are?"

The detective of the east took a surprised look, then started to laugh nervously.

"I think you didn't get it. I _am_ Kudō Shinichi. I'm twenty-seven years old and I'm from ten years in the future, I'm here because I've set up a way to get rid of the Organization. There's nothing to it."

There was a shocked silence.

"Ya' surely don't expect me to believe that, d'ya'?"  
"I'm afraid you'll have to, we've got the same fingerprints. If _that_ is not concrete evidence..."

This time, the little Kudō was the one who had talked. He was leaning against the wall slightly behind them, but then he pushed a little against it so that he could get up and come to reach the two teenagers with a slow and grave pace, before taking his own glass and filling it with some juice.

"Oi, Kudō... What d'y'a tell me yesterday?"  
"I hadn't enough time to tell you the whole truth because you wouldn't have trusted me, so I just told you that someone very close to us was temporarily impersonating me. Now here are the details: that person impersonating me is _Kudō Shinichi_ and is _twenty-seven years old_."  
"Hold on, that's nonsense..."

The boy shrugged before throwing an indecipherable look at his alter-ego.

"In any case, whatever I told you, here's the truth. We've had many opportunities to check that it was the only possible explanation."

A long silence started to set in the room, no one knowing how to keep the conversation. Shinichi stood up and walked a bit, leaving the two friends sitting around the table, but he stayed not too far from them, only turning his back on them and staring into space, holding his almost empty glass, deeply absorbed in his thoughts.  
Finally, the detective of the west tried to break the silence:

"Okay. What d'we do now?"  
"_He_'s the one you should ask." Conan retorted while pointing him. "But I'm not positive he'll tell you, since he hasn't told me a lot yet."  
"How so? Hey Kudō, what does that mean?"  
"Who knows."

The child paused, noticing that the tone had been slightly increased when his friend had asked this question. Adding this observation to the slightly embarrassed expression the teenager was sporting since he had answered, he finally muttered:

"Oh, uh, sorry... _he_'s the one you were talking to, right...?"  
"Yeah... Yeah, that's it."

For his part, the elder began to let resonate in the room a laugh that seemed ironic and mocking, but that was actually much more nervous than anything else; although he actually did seem amused by such misunderstandings, adding some embarrassment to the one already naturally produced by such an unusual situation.

"Of course that if you call both of us 'Kudō' it won't make it..." he stated sarcastically.  
"Hey, how d'ya' want me to do with one Kudō here and another there? How d'ya' do to call each other, heh?"  
"For my part, I just call him 'Kudō'." Shinichi threw innocently while smirking.

Hattori buried his head in his right hand, rubbing it while sighing.

"O-Okay, just give it up. _Yah'_, what's the plan?" he announced while turning inordinately his head toward the elder to show that he was the man he was talking to.

Conan slumped against the back of his chair, sighing deeply and muttering what seemed to sound like _"__All that fuss for **that**__..."_; and indeed, as he had expected, his friend did not get any more information than what he got. When the high school student had wanted to ask him some more questions about why the whole plan had to remain secret, the child thought that the answers were very evasive. But for the very first time, he had answered anyway:

"I have several reasons to do everything all by myself. First (he raised his right hand and pointed the index finger), if ever my plan fails, then it's arranged so that none of you will be affected nor suspected by anyone, and I'd have left you all my notes about the Organization in case you'd still want to fight them thereafter. You'll be able to do whatever you want with this information, there's no problem."  
"If in that case we'd have access to everything y'know, why don't ya' tell us right away?"  
"I was coming to that point, Hattori: second (another finger raised to show his counting), for discretion reasons, it's better that I act alone and tell nobody. The Organization might be infiltrated anywhere in the FBI, in the CIA or in the police, and who knows how far they can go; hey, who knows, maybe they already noticed that this house is inhabited again and found it suspicious, so we're now wiretapped without even suspecting it and there are some microphones here and there which are listening to us at the same time I'm talking to you by now: after all, nobody was here when Kudō and I were in Teitan, how possibly we could imagine that during our absence there would be people coming here and installing microphones to spy on us ? So whenever I'd call anyone to talk about my plans, or even worse if I'd tell you right now, then there'd be a chance that they'd be aware of my whole intentions and that all my plans would fit for the bin because I heavily rely on the element of surprise."

Another silence fell for a few seconds, since nobody knew what to criticize; Conan noticed for the first time that his alter-ego seemed to have a paranoia even much larger than his.

"And at last, the third reason is purely personal; that's nothing more than a matter between them and _me_, and nobody else has to get involved. Is that clear?"  
"Well, I suppose so..." the high school student with a tanned complexion muttered. "But can't you tell us more about that 'personal matter' thing? What happened?"

Shinichi immediately gave him an icy look that momentarily paralyzed with bewilderment.

"Is there something you don't get in 'personal matter', Hattori? Because I thought that was clear enough."

Totally taken aback, the Ōsakian did not answer and stared at him with astonishment.  
For a short while, incredibly fleeting but real, he had seen a twenty-seven-year-old man, not the teenager he had in front of him. This vision of a friend who seemed to be his age but who was actually an adult ten years older than him deeply marked his mind, for the first time since he had met him.  
What had made him realize this truth, however, was this strange glance full of hatred he had seen. This little desperate, lost, infinitely sad burst... that yet reflected what seemed almost murderous hatred. That glare, he would never have imagined being able to see it from Kudō, and even worse, being its target was deeply upsetting.  
Baffled, he finally stammered what looked like an excuse in a disturbed whisper. But he seemed to keep his troubled mind for a while, because even when he rose a few minutes later and said he would perhaps leave them for the day, he still seemed particularly affected by this look.

"By the way Kudō..."

He immediately got in response two similar and simultaneous 'Yes?', which surprised everyone and suddenly plunged the room in an awkward silence. Hattori watched the two alter-egos, who were glaring at each other while blushing slightly. They eventually looked away to redirect their eyes to the Ōsakian, then both spoke again still in a single tone, beginning to ask the same question: 'Is he the one you—?'. However, they stopped there, realizing that they had only acted in exactly the same way another time.  
The high school student with a tanned complexion had more and more difficulty to hide his total collapse, staring at the duo with what looked like a _poker face_ which, however, left much guess the real background of his thoughts.

"Okay ain't ya' becoming creepy."


	4. Third Corollary

**Warning: Do _not_ read the note before the chapter if you haven't read File 897 yet !**  
**But do not worry, the chapter itself contains absolutely _no spoil_, since it was written _before_ this file's publication.**

Here is just a little note before you read this chapter: notice that the fiction has been written _before_ I learn who Bourbon truly is. Well, I might explain that because this is an AU and thus Bourbon would not be exactly the same as in the manga, but that would be _a little_ unfair of me if I didn't explain exactly _why_, wouldn't it be ? But well, that would have meant that I should have to correct my whole scenario and make it longer and more complex, find _where_ the story should have been different so that the characters would not be the same as in the canon manga, I should have turned this story into a complex thriller similar to the canon manga... what I did _not_ want to do, actually. This fiction is meant to be short and mostly focused on the Kudōs' relationship analysis, and I didn't want to add extra stuff like action or suspense: reason why this fiction is only lasting five chapters, excluding prologue and epilogue, whereas it could have been much more complex and last dozens and dozens of chapters, with the FBI, the CIA, the police also involved, with epic battles, with stories about spying, betrayals, complex and sorrowful hidden secrets and all that stuff... I _could_ have turned this fiction into a thriller, indeed; but that's not what I wanted, since there are already many ones, and writing a true thriller would have avoided me to truly focus on what I wanted to focus on: psychology. There are indeed secrets around the future Shinichi, but these are truly not meant to remain secrets for so long: even if Conan himself can't figure them out before he actually does in the fiction because he hasn't found evidence yet to figure out anything, the readers have more than enough evidence to find out almost everything since... well, the first hints of what exactly happened are in the second chapter, but even since the first one there are points that permits first theories to burst out. This fiction's plot is far from being my most complex one, because it's simply not its target. The reason why I like this fiction is not because of the plot itself (and I don't really like my plot, which is far too much obvious and simple to me), but because of the psychology and the relationship between the Kudōs.

But here is what I wanted to tell at first: in this fiction, Bourbon is just like Gin: he works only for the Organization and is ready to kill whoever is dangerous for the Organization's plans. I won't tell so much because it would be spoilers, but I just say this so that you wouldn't be surprised to see that Bourbon is not acting the same way he should. If I didn't correct that by (for example) replacing Bourbon with Gin, it's because if it had to be someone, this could not be anyone but Bourbon, because of... spoilers. You'll find out why in the fifth corollary, if you don't have already found out because of what I just told you now (if that's the case, sorry for the spoil by the way. Even if you had hints of this since the first chapter. :D).  
Of course, if I had found a way to have this making any sense, of course I would have corrected the script before translating, but... well. Sorry, I haven't. ù_ù

Then, here is the third chapter. When the story _really_ begins to become interesting. Well, not as much as the next chapters, but... well, just have fun reading, you'll see. ^^' Enjoy your reading ! :D

* * *

_**Third Corollary ~ The Maximum Trouble's Law  
**_

_"It's when you think that no more trouble can happen to you  
__that everything goes even more wrong."_

**XXX, XXX XX XXXX  
02:36 AM  
Tōkyō, Beika district  
****Mōri agency** _

The child yawned, heading toward the kitchen with a heavy tread, his half closed and asleep eyes hardly looking at where he was going. His steps brought him to a cupboard, which he opened with a sleepy gesture to take an empty glass out of it.  
He really was thirsty. It was not so common at night. It had to be because it was hot in the room. It was strangely warmer than usual, maybe.

He softly turned towards the place that stored all the water bottles, but he did not go there.

He felt the tip of a gun sticking in the middle of his forehead and gradually widened his eyes, as if it was taking him so long to wake up and realize exactly what was actually happening.

"Oh, hi there little one. The young six-year-old pupil Edogawa Conan is going on a little night walk?"

This adult and confident voice paused for a short break. But its sly tone was still there when it continued:

"Or should I say... sixteen-year-old high school student _Kud__ō_ Shinichi, maybe?"

He shivered, paralyzed with stupor.

"Bourbon..." he heard himself whispering in a little voice hindered by terror.  
"I knew it. You do know us."

He did not know how to respond. He could not respond. His blood ran cold.

"Conan-kun...? What's going on? Who are you talking to?"

They both suddenly turned towards the door and stared it wide-eyed. It was Ran's voice. The door opened.

"Amuro-san? What are you—"

She stopped dead. In no time, the man had rushed towards her and was already threatening her to make a close-range shot at any move she would do to defend herself.

The child wanted to save her and darted toward them in a final burst of hope, a pleading and terrified glare trembling in his look.

A simple word crossed his lips. A name. But he knew that would change nothing.

.

He heard the echo of a shot.

.

.

His heart skipped a beat. It seemed to him that it had completely stopped beating.

.

.

.

"Ran!"

Shinichi, panting, jumped up and stretched out his arm as if to reach out some non-existent object.

He remained motionless, facing the mirror on the opposite wall, staring at his reflection through the mists of darkness.  
He saw nothing but the silhouette of a young man, standing in a haggard attitude with disheveled hair, who just woke up in a sudden.  
It took him several long seconds to finally realize that he was at home, in his parents' bedroom. And that therefore none of this had been real.

"It was a nightmare. Nothing, _nothing more_ than a nightmare." he muttered in a faint and terrified voice, as if to convince himself that this was true, while trying to regain his composure.

_This is from now on nothing more than a nightmare.  
This will not happen... This will not happen again.  
Not this time._

Anyway, he remembered that the actual course of events was not exactly this one. This dream did not accurately reflected his past... Everything happened much faster this time. About ten minutes had been omitted in this nightmare... After all, it held the road, since REM sleep never lasted more than ten minutes. His dream had to be shortened so that it could fit within this time interval.  
But anyway, it was out of the question to think any longer about that. It had no reason to be.

_It was no longer the truth.  
It will no longer be the truth._

He mopped his forehead drenched in cold sweat, then turned towards the alarm clock that was by his side.

_03:31 AM_

He still had plenty of time to sleep. It was not time yet. He was not ready yet. But it would not take him so long now.  
He lay down, still casting a quick glance at the mirror in front of him. Drawing the covers over his face, he tried to sleep as soon as possible.  
It would be regrettable if Kudō was awake when he would be ready to leave. This would not please him... even if it was for his own good.

_Yes. It was for his own good that he would do it.  
Only for his own good.  
For everyone's own good._

**Monday, March 19 XXXX  
04:51 PM  
Tōkyō, Beika district  
Hiroshi Agasa's residence _**

"Really? You'll soon put your plan into action?"

The high school student put down his half empty glass silently, in a calm and confiant gesture. Then he looked up and stared into the professor's eyes with a smile which mixed satisfaction and determination.

"Really. The last preparations are nearing completion. It's only a matter of one or two days now."  
"This really is impressive! I knew that you would be a great help to us, but I didn't expect you to be so effective."

The adolescent's smirk suddenly seemed to darken in a very subtle way.

"Yeah. But what's still to know is what he truly is so effective to do."

Silence. Everyone turned with surprise towards Conan, who seemed in such a very bad mood since they were back from school, not stopping staring at his alter-ego from the corner of his eyes. His remark introduced even more surprise from the others, because it actually was the first time he was speaking since they were back from Teitan this day.  
Shinichi looked down, sighing.

"For the last time, Kudō, that was an _accident_. Sonoko was the one who—"  
"Don't change the subject, you definitely know that's not the point!"  
"Anyway, the fact is I've rarely seen you so flushed when they both fell one on the other just under your eyes..." Haibara muttered with a very slight smirk.  
"The fact is I never asked you for your help." he snapped while glancing at her with two dark eyes.

There was a dismayed silence once more. The young girl herself had not expected such a virulent reaction from him. Never he would have dared to speak to anybody in a tone so scathing in a normal situation. Because even more than in his only words, his especially heinous tone could perfectly let everybody guess the real substance of his thoughts.

The return path indeed had not been as quiet as usual. Sonoko had got the strange idea to force a little her two classmates to come closer one to the other, surely because she was disappointed to see that after so much time, Shinichi would not even spend more time with his _fiancee_, too much focused on his thoughts during all day to pay any attention to her. Her method was certainly not very delicate, but quite effective: having completely lost his balance all of a sudden, he found himself, without even completely realizing it, sticking her against the wall, facing each other, almost brushing each other. Sonoko had particularly well calculated her shot, although she was deeply disappointed to see that after a few seconds of intense hesitation on their part, the high school student had slowly stood back while apologizing in embarrassed whispers, not daring going further.  
But Conan had definitely noticed that he had not dared only because _he_ was there to watch over him. That if they had been alone, if he weren't there with them, he would not have hesitated at all. And it was that unbearable doubt, this little glow of intense desire that he had seen through his eyes at this time, which was enraging him. Because _he would have dared _in other circumstances.

But even if it was definitely contributing to the particularly corrosive resentment he was feeling since then, it was quite obvious that it actually was nothing more than the small straw that broke the camel's back; the iceberg had only started to rise from the deepest seas, just showing its little tip.

This time, something was clearly wrong. Although it seemed obvious that the little detective had to endure without flinching many situations that were far from pleasing him and that troubles, doubts and torments were multiplied around him for the last few days, his friends had never realized that all these strains represented such a heavy burden.  
And yet, it was obvious that this situation could not last indefinitely and that all this was meant to burst out sooner or later.

"_Ohe_, Kudō, what's the matter with you...?" Shinichi eventually stammered in an incredulous tone.

The child finally cracked up. Letting burst his whole anger, he stopped trying to contain all of these violent emotions and anxieties he had let ruminate inside himself for days now.

"Am I really the only one here to see how suspect that guy is or you're all kidding me here?! Just think about it for at least a few seconds! Nothing's known about him, he's planning something very big and doesn't tell us about anything, he's always locked inside his room so that nobody can know what he's up to, he doesn't want to tell us anything and _won't_ tell us anything, and he's still not suspicious to any of you? How can you be so positive that he's not up to anything serious?! How can you be so sure that he's not actually _against_ us?!"  
"_Ohe_, just calm down a little... Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit, Conan...?"

Agasa realized a little too late that his last word could only make things even worse.

"My name is **_Kudō Shinichi_**!" the child yelled suddenly, beside himself.

And having seized the handle of the door, he opened it and slammed it noisily just after his leaving. The professor tried to go hold him back in the most adroit way as possible, but the high school student advised him to leave him alone for a bit.  
Nobody had noticed it, but his eyes had darkened again very discreetly.

**Monday, March 19 XXXX  
06:47 PM  
Tōkyō, Beika district  
Kudō residence _**

Almost one week had gone by since all these problems began and since his life had truly turned into a nightmare. Well, much less if he wanted to be exact, since actually no more than four days had truly gone by. But that did not change the fact that he could just not get over it.  
His alter-ego had managed to become integrated into all of their daily lives even faster than he would have dared imagine, and with a quite frightening and incredible cleverness. He perfectly saw that he was somewhat putting it on, since his mentality and his behavior seemed completely different from his – in any case, he had seen since the very first day that there was something completely different in him, so that their points of view were almost conflicting on many points –; but since Kudō Shinichi's "reappearance" in Teitan high school, he had imitated his old mannerisms to such an extent that even those who were aware of the case were left increasingly blinded by this facade. He was so good at faking the high school detective he had used to be that everybody, even sometimes _himself_, were forgetting that he actually was _twenty-seven years old_.  
His acting was so good that even Hattori and _Hakase_ went up to his defense, accusing him to be wrongly wary of him, for no real reason: _"Who knows, yah're just jealous of him because yah must act like a child while he doesn't have to pretend to be someone else"_, the West Detective had once retorted him before going back to Ōsaka. And his reminding him that accident from some hours ago, at Teitan high school, where Sonoko had _coincidentally_ bumped him so that while losing his balance he would end up so close to Ran's embarrassed face, with her trembling lips and his only some centimeters away... He shook his head violently, trying to erase these awful images from his memory without managing to do it.  
As for Haibara, the question was not even to be arose: both her and _him_ got along so well that they were often away from the others, whispering with a cynical smile on their lips. They were often looking at _him_, now that he was thinking about it. What could they be talking about behind his back?!

But the most unbearable in all of this was his current condition. He could less and less stand his having to act like a child, while that guy was totally free to do whatever he wanted. That was crippling for his investigations about _him _since he was much more independent than him and was working things out so that they would end up in situations were Conan _could not_ investigate as freely as he would need to, and even worse than this, that situation was becoming particularly painful when others were involved and were always going up more and more to _his_ defense. Because if Conan did not like Shinichi, that was_ definitely __jealousy_. And therefore it had _not_ to be paid any attention to it.

While he was thinking about the last days, sitting on his bed and facing the sunset from his bedroom's window, his phone suddenly began to vibrate, indicating that someone was trying to reach him. He sighed, hoping that it would not be someone like _Hakase_, his alter-ego or Hattori expecting some explanations from him... If ever he saw one of these names on the screen, he would hang up immediately. There was definitely no point trying to talk to him.  
However, he noticed with relief that it was nothing more than his mother, so he did not hesitate any longer and pressed the little green button, holding the cell phone against his ear.

"Hi, _'Kaa-san_."

He had tried to hide his emotions the best way he could and to show his usual attitude, answering naturally with a neutral tone; but the attempt was a failure, and his mother perfectly felt that something was bothering her son.

"_What's wrong, Shin-chan?_"  
"Oh, nothing. I just have the feeling that nobody's trusting me anymore and that all the people I care about are completely dropping me..."  
"_Of course not, I'm positive you're just imagining things._"  
"Oh, well, just let's give it up. Not like I wanted to talk about it. You wanted to tell me something since you called me, didn't you?"

Conan himself was not satisfied with this more than wobbly transition, which perfectly showed that he did not particularly want to dwell on such a topic. But although his mother was far from being fooled by this, she thought it was better not to insist.

"_Where are you?_"  
"At home, why are you asking?"  
"_Heh? Wait, how so, _'at home'_? What are you doing here? Isn't it a little late for Ran-chan coming to clean out...?_"

He bit his lips and cursed in his mind.  
It was true she was not aware of _that_ case yet. Which explained a lot.

"Er, well, that's quite complicated. Let's say that for a little less than a week now, I've been living at home and I can talk as much as you want me to. Now, what's exactly going on?"  
"_Did you have fun with the cash card your father gave you?_"

The child went flabbergasted.

"What do you mean?"

He had suddenly curled up, hiding his phone with his free hand and starting to whisper in a serious and very anxious tone. As if he was afraid to be heard, in case someone would have come in without him noticing.

"_Some thousands yens disappeared _'as if by magic'_. We're not penniless yet, but may I ask you what the matter is with you?_"

Silence. He remained completely motionless, his mouth being slightly smug, his glasses' lenses becoming completely opaque due to reflections.

"I know who the culprit is."

He hung up without even waiting for any answer, jumping out of his bed and starting to run through the corridor, leaving his house once he had quickly taken his jacket and his keys.  
On the other side of the line, the former actress would keep calling him from America again and again, before eventually noticing that her son could no longer hear her.

**Monday, March 19 XXXX  
07:04 PM  
Tōkyō, Beika district  
Mōri agency _**

"Conan-kun? I haven't seen you for days now..."

She had opened the door without hesitating, seeming surprised, happy, and finally... slightly anxious, when she looked at her little friend more attentively.  
Something was wrong. She definitely felt it.

"Wait a minute... Are you alright? You seem a little bit strange..."

He breathed in strongly, as if to give himself some courage.

"Ran... I'm really sorry I didn't tell you before now, but the case is getting too much serious."

Silence. The girl stared with puzzlement at the schoolboy who, once he had uttered these words in a tone which was harsher than ever, was keeping his head down and his eyes slightly squinted. As if he did not even dare to look at her.  
She did not pay very much attention to his having used the _yobisute_ form, neglecting the usual _'Ran-neechan'_. But she had perfectly felt that something was wrong.  
She suggested with a confused expression that he should come in and sit on the couch, as she knelt on the other side of the table, looking at him puzzlingly and asking him with a little nod to continue.

"I've been hiding you something for months now, Ran. You'll probably be very angry at me after I tell you, but I just want you to know that I only did this to protect you... But now, it's to protect you that I _must_ tell you and that you have to trust me. If it's not already asking too much from you..."  
"But... What's going on exactly? What do you mean by that _'protecting me'_ thing?"  
"Kudō Shinichi disappeared for the first time about six months ago. Edogawa Conan appeared the same evening. I let you guess what that means, since you already proved me that you're definitely able to find it out by yourself."

Silence. She was suddenly feeling deeply dizzy, her head starting back very slowly, almost imperceptibly.  
The child could see that terror through her trembling eyes. He frowned slightly, feeling guilty.

"But... That's impossible... You've been with Shinichi for days now..."  
"Yes. And that's exactly the reason why I must tell you the truth. Because that Shinichi is dangerous. I don't know yet what are his intentions, but he's very suspicious for now. So I just want to warn you... please do be careful. If anything happened because of him, I would never forgive myself."

She lowered her head, staring into space.  
Conan approached hesitantly a shy and childish hand that he gently put on her shoulder.  
She suddenly lifted her frightened eyes toward him, outlining an unreadable expression. His face showed hard and serious features, but an extreme tenderness seemed to be hidden in the depths of his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Ran. If you're not too angry at me, I'll explain you everything... I hope that you'll understand why I didn't tell you even if I could see you worrying so much about me..."

He was sincere. He was slightly trembling. That was evidence of an extreme feeling of guiltiness, as well as many other feelings that he was trying to hide, but that she could easily recognize.  
She hesitated. He could have done this for fun, if it had only lasted a few days; _Hakase_ could have helped him to set up this little plan in her back for one reason or another. In this case, she should blame him for having abused her trust.

But the joke had lasted _six months_.

So it was certainly true that if he had been hiding this from her for so long, it was definitely for a very good reason. This could not have been done only for fun. He had seen her worrying about him again and again... So if he had kept silent for so long, it was definitely because there was a very special reason.  
She looked down and took a particularly serious expression.

"Tell me what's going on. We'll see the other details later."

Her faint voice showed that she was trying to hide her being angry at him. She could not show him that she was angry at him before being aware of everything.  
Because she could not be angry at him if the secret really worthed it.

She noticed that her friend seemed reluctant to talk, always looking around as if his secret definitely had to be kept at all costs.

"Don't worry, we're alone here. _Otō-san_'s gone _I-don't-know-where_ again."  
"Good. I count on you, you won't tell him anything, will you? I can't imagine his reaction if ever he knew who I actually am..."

His _'I count on you'_ was rather awkward of him, and he noticed it since he tried immediately to correct himself, in an even more awkward and embarrassed way.  
But once he had finished his explanations some long minutes later, the huge and heavy silence which answered him seemed to show that indeed, she had understood the seriousness of the case and the reason why he did not have any choice since the beginning.

"You really do have a knack of getting yourself into such incredible cases... first with that organization thing, that was quite complicated; but with those time travels..."

She never finished her sentence. She looked at him sadly, in silence. Himself no longer dared to move or say anything.

"That explains why he was looking somewhat weird, lately... since he wasn't exactly the same person as the one who was sometimes calling me on the phone..."  
"_Ne_, Ran... Aren't you too much angry at me for that?"

He felt a violent and sharp pain against his left cheeck, which echoed painfully.  
She had been rather harsh, but he had sometimes feared worse than that.

After all, it was his fault. It was a great lack of tact to ask her this question at this time.

"You're lucky I don't go further than this, Shinichi. For now, I'm okay to say that we're quits. But that's only because _'the case is getting too much serious'_, like you said."

He tried to apologize once again, but she retorted that it was not the moment. That she wanted to hear the whole story first.

So he continued his explanations:

"Ran. That guy's definitely hiding something big. He borrowed several thousands yens to my parents and I can't know what he did with them, so we really have to be careful with him. Whatever you do, don't tell him that you know the whole story, but... beware of him. That's all I can ask you."

She nodded seriously.

"It's odd that you confess to me just because of that, though" she mumbled. "You didn't tell Hattori-kun nor Agasa _Hakase_?"

He narrowed his eyes and looked away, replying that it was not worth it.

"As things now stand, they might even not believe me at all... They trust him much more than they trust me, lately. You are the last person I could still convince, Ran."  
"I... I see. So the case's _that_ bad."

However, she pointed out that she did not really see how that made him a particularly dangerous man, to the point that he would come to tell her everything just for that only reason.  
The child's look suddenly darkened even more than before.

"Ran. He's bought something that costs several thousands yens. I'm surely imagining things since he's still _'me'_, but... Do you have, right now, any idea of what it could be?"

She seemed to understand. But she shook her head.  
Probably because she knew, but she refused to believe it.  
And he also refused to believe it.


End file.
